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So this is my second of Adagio’s Jasmine Greens. I already reviewed and finished the other so we shall see how this one pans out.
Western Style. I got distracted and steeped it a bit too long (about 3:30-3:45) but the water was 195F.
I can definitely taste the oversteeping. The Jasmine isn’t nearly as overpowering as the other one I tried, so that is a plus. However, with the oversteep, it is ever so slightly bitter. I can taste the green tea more in this one, so those vegetal flavors are totally there. The bottom of the cup where some of the flavor settled was super bitter, but again, oversteep so that is probably why. I will try this one again fresh later and pay more attention so I can get an accurate bead on it. But for now, what I am getting from this one is I think it is better than the Yin Hao (I think that was what it was called). Not as super-jasmine, and a better blend of flavors.

Well what do you know? My first added tea!
40 Winks wasn’t anywhere on the site so I had to add it. Believe me I looked. Nowhere to be found. Anyway this is one of Adagio’s wellness blends. It’s supposed to promote sleep. We shall see…
Upon cracking the package, I get a strong pungent aroma. I’m guessing that’s the valerian root. It’s listed as the first ingredient so it must be prevalent. I’m also getting an aroma of chamomile and mint, which are also both ingredients. So onto steeping.
Western Style, 212F, 5Min.
Upon drinking the first thing I notice is that the pungent valerian aroma doesn’t fully translate over. It’s definitely there, but the tea is still palatable. There’s a slight tingling sensation in the mouth that I suppose would be the mint? I can totally taste the chamomile as well. Grassy notes are apparent as well. They become more and more noticeable as tea cools. Surprisingly no sweetener is needed in this one, although some people may wish to put a bit of honey in it for medicinal value. I can’t really have honey anymore so I am grateful it does not need any sweetener to drink. I don’t know if this will put me to sleep or not (I have weird sleep patterns) but it is certainly soothing. I would totally recommend this for a last-cup-of-the-night kind of tea. It’s flavor is nothing to write home about, but it’s not horrible and who knows maybe it will help you sleep.

So this is a supposed desert tea I was really looking forward to. They say it has chocolate and caramel flavorings along with black tea. So we shall see.
Brewed western style as usual, 212F, 3min.
My first thought about drinking this is “I thought this was supposed to be sweet???”. The natural flavor of this tea is quite bitter, like dark dark cacoa and caramel that has no natural sweetness to it. That second part is weird to me because I always thought Caramel was basically cooked sugar. So no, this tea is really kinda bad in its natural state.

You know what that means… LATTE TIME.

So after adding the almond milk and two splendas, the darkest cacoa and bitter caramel flavors suddenly turned into “Candy bar”. Frankly that’s what I wanted in the first place, as this is supposed to be a dessert tea. I drank two steeps worth of this in latte form and have decided that, if you can stand making a sweetened latte, go for it. But once again, I find that so many Adagio teas just do NOT taste right unless you add either milk or sweetener to them. I really wish they could get their act together on their flavored blends because the potential is there. They just keep falling flat.

So this is my first experience with any type of Wuyi. Smells good in bag, lets see how it tastes. Western prep, 3min at 195F.

Totally getting that famous mineral flavor, followed by a mild earthy and strangely peppery? flavor. I don’t know what that flavor is. It reminds me of black pepper, but there’s no pepper recorded on any previous tasting notes. It’s bitey in my mouth and leaves it tingling. About a minute or two after sipping, the remaining after flavor changes to and stays as a massive grape flavor. I have no idea where or how that happened, but suddenly my mouth is full of grapes. As it’s cooling I’m getting a mild wood flavor, but still plenty of that rock taste. Overall I do like this. It’s not my all time favorite, but it is a totally acceptable tea. I would gladly drink this again.

Well, durning funeral trip, I discovered I like citrus green. This is one of my attempts to find the perfect green tea with citrus.
Sadly, this isn’t it. Maybe I just didn’t steep long enough. I went for 2 minutes with 180F water. The flavor isn’t as strong as I would like. It’s a mild citrus green and I like a very flavorful one. The perfect citrus green would be strong but not overwhelming. This is way too mild for my tastes. It does have a good citrus green flavor. I can taste the orange zest and the slight vegetal of the green. It just isn’t as pronounced a flavor as I like.

After the Lapsang debacle, I needed something to cleanse my palate. So Skele-grow it is. I bought this because they claimed it tasted like candy. Made western style at 212F for 4 minutes (recommended instructions). First sip was okay. It was definitely minty but more dark chocolate, which I am not so much a fan of. So I tried it with two splendas and a bit of almond milk. Wow! What a difference! It IS like drinking candy. Very sweet minty chocolate candy mind you, which may not be for everyone. But still tastes like an Andes Candy. This may be one of my new favorite dessert teas. It’s very lovely. If you want to try a tea that tastes like mint chocolate candy, go for this one. But just remember you need to add sweetener to it to get the most from this blend.

Oh wow. This was a free sample from Adagio Teas. They basically said if I like golden monkey I would like this.

Boy were they wrong.

It’s a very complex cup, I’ll give them that. Woodsy, Smokey, Mushrooms, Earthy… But that smoked flavor and I are not getting along. Between that and the heavy mushroom flavor it’s like drinking burnt portabella mushrooms. This is getting dumped. Sorry Adagio.

This tea was recommended to my by the TeaFriends Chatroom folk. So I went out and got some. Smell upon first steep is very reminiscent of fresh buttered popcorn. Not the fake movie theater kind, but good homemade buttered popcorn. Flavor is… Indescribable. This is heaven in a cup. I am getting cream, I am getting butter, I am getting nutty. As it cools I’m starting to get ever so slight floral, but nothing too strong. And this is just the first 40 second steep! This is almost my new favorite tea. It’s just maybe one point less than the Golden Monkey, but definitely going in my top 3. I hate that this is so pricey but I will 100% be re-ordering this. Like I said. Heaven in a cup.

Another black tea for meeee!

This is my first NON-Adagio Loose Leaf I believe. I’m starting to expand my horizons. This one smells delightful. A bread like woodsy scent. Flavor is similar. I’m getting bread and honey with definite malt and chocolate tones as well. It’s a complex cup and thoroughly enjoyable. It’s almost, how should I put this, like a dark chocolate sandwich? That description is both completely wrong and yet somehow right. Also getting some woodsy notes to it as it cools. All in all a very enjoyable cuppa and I’m glad I ordered a decent amount of this. It’s not quite as yummy as my Golden Monkey, but a comparable and delicious cup nonetheless.

OKAY! New Rule. All chai teas will be reviewed using the same prep method- With Almond Milk and two splendas. That being said, time for the review.
WOW! This is certainly a… DIFFERENT tea. I don’t think I have ever had tea with coconut in it before and it shows. I really don’t know if I like this at all or not. The Coconut is pinging in my mouth along with the chai spice and it is really a weird combo. It’s almost like combining sweet with spice and getting sour. I don’t what to do with this. It is kinda tasty, but just really too odd a flavor combo for me. The flavor is very strong even with the almond milk and sweetener. Nope, don’t think I can recommend this one. It’s different in a bad way.